My local Starbucks is giving away free used coffee grounds -- as much as I want. I picked up a 10 pound bag this evening. I remember as a kid that we used to compost coffee grounds and pretty much everything else. I'm in the process of preparing my soil for my two AG pumpkin plants. I've dug a 3x3x3 hole for each and will be filling with "soil" this weekend.

My question is whether I need to compost the coffee grounds or whether I can just mix them in with the soil now and let them naturally break down over the next several months, while my AG seedlings are developing their root systems. Or, should I keep the grounds separate and compost them separately and add them later as a side dressing ?

My current soil mix for the AG pumpkins is just some good planting soil and 1 year old composted horse manure. I'm still deciding what else to add to that mix (probably some peat moss, sand, and perhaps some mushroom compost. I have to reread Don Langevin's books for other supplements, like the stuff offered at Neptune's Harvest.

Thanks in advance.